18th club, whose next?

[Milhouse2020]

So not relevant to the 18th team... please spruk your fantasy decimation of the Sydney clubs on another thread

And please spruik your ability to prove that you're an idiot on some other forum.

 

[Wb1234]

 

[final say]

What a terrible thing to write..
He's just signed a contract for one of the biggest rl clubs on the planet.
This is a hit piece. Shameless one at that.
Pricks.

 

[Vee]

Meanwhile

History made as Club Rugby League registrations reach 200,000 nationally

The National Rugby League (NRL) is today celebrating a significant milestone in the game’s history with national community club rugby league player registrations reaching 200,000 in a season for the first time.

www.nrl.com

How many threads can we post this in?

 

[Vee]

And please spruik your ability to prove that you're an idiot on some other forum.

Mods, please...

 

[MugaB]

Mods, please...

Sorry Vee, mods don't come here, we'll have to put up this BS, till he gets shafted by one of the existing mods on the club threads

 

[Milhouse2020]

Mods, please...

.....do something about the stupid posts Vee makes in this forum.

 

[Centy Coast]

The Bears with 7 wins on the trot, still three points clear at the top of the NSW Cup ladder.
Always good beating the Sea Gulls.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

The Bears with 7 wins on the trot, still three points clear at the top of the NSW Cup ladder.
Always good beating the Sea Gulls.

View attachment 90763

Was Humphrey B Bear there to cheer on his mates?

 

[MugaB]

The Bears with 7 wins on the trot, still three points clear at the top of the NSW Cup ladder.
Always good beating the Sea Gulls.

View attachment 90763

Well done bears, although this probably isn't the thread to be highlighting reserve grade efforts, bears in Perth is a fair enough topic, not NS bears current standings

 

[T to the T]

Can the NRL pull off its biggest ever expansion?

The NRL is deciding whether to expand to a 20-team competition. The rewards could be huge, but the clubs aren’t so confident.

www.afr.com

Can the NRL pull off its biggest ever expansion?
The NRL is deciding whether to expand to a 20-team competition. The rewards could be huge, but the clubs aren’t so confident.

Zoe SamiosBusiness reporter
Jul 7, 2024 – 3.15pm

It must have been an odd sight. More than a dozen NRL executives and officials gathering at the Gambaro Seafood Restaurant not far from the Brisbane CBD.

Tucked away from view, in the upstairs private dining room, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo had invited club bosses to a pre-Magic Round meal with a busy agenda of discussion points.

The 17 club chief executives had one thing on their minds, though. For eight months, the potential for a new club for Papua New Guinea had been tabloid fodder. In the weeks leading up to the back-to-back rugby league matches, there was also talk of an NRL revival for the North Sydney Bears.

The clubs wanted to know more. Days before they met, 14 executives took a survey that deemed expansion their top priority, ahead of key issues such as concussions and salary caps.

If it goes ahead, the expansion of the NRL will be the most ambitious and significant change to the rugby league competition since it began in 1998.

Led by Abdo and the Australian Rugby League Commission’s chairman, Peter V’landys, the plan would add three teams to the NRL by 2032, of which two could be based offshore.

They could generate millions of dollars for the sport in broadcast and advertising revenue and would create a national game that has not existed since the Super League and Australian Rugby League competitions united to form the NRL.

But a change this big was always going to cause drama. Those there for dinner at Gambaro – incidentally, owned by the NRL since 2022 – were disappointed to find it was not on the initial agenda. Instead of a lengthy discussion, they were told they would be consulted only in the late stages of decision-making.

Their concerns include where the new teams will be based, how that will affect the distribution of funding to existing clubs, and whether there are enough good coaches and players to run such a large competition.

Last week, the NRL issued requests for proposals to potential entrants to assess the best way forward. Abdo and V’landys want a decision on the new clubs before the end of the season, which would allow the NRL to negotiate a new broadcast deal with additional match fixtures.


“Expansion is not a given,” V’landys tells The Australian Financial Review. “In saying that, now is the time to consider it as it provides the essential component for broadcast negotiations. The decision will be one of the most important in the continued strong health of the game and could set up the game for the next 50 years.”

When the Redcliffe Dolphins became the 17th NRL club in 2021, few believed it would succeed. Even with the hiring of the league’s most respected coach, Wayne Bennett, the team struggled to attract star players and many feared it would take years to reap commercial benefits.

But by the time the team ran onto Suncorp Stadium against the Sydney Roosters last March, more than 31,100 people were in the stands. Thousands wore fin-shaped hats and waved red dolphin flags as the NRL’s newest team beat the Sydney-based powerhouse by 10 points.

The Dolphins finished the season in 13th place and NRL documents obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald in May show the club was among the best in terms of financial performance last year.

It was certainly a better start than the Gold Coast Titans’ arrival in 2007. Some say it worked because the team was founded in rugby league heartland. “It was un-f--k-up-able,” one club executive says.

Other executives say it didn’t add value to the sport’s broadcast deal because it created an odd number of teams, meaning there is a bye each week.

Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader says the club had all the ingredients for success.

“The Dolphins have been around for 75 years and the club existed to play rugby league at the highest level,” he says. “When that was taken away from us in 1988, the club invested in infrastructure, people and facilities so when the chance came, they could deliver top-flight football to the club.”

Sources with direct knowledge of the bidding process say there are 11 parties interested in joining the NRL across four countries. The contenders include Perth – which could go at it alone or sign a deal with the North Sydney Bears – Papua New Guinea, two parties from New Zealand’s South Island, and the Brisbane Tigers, who lost out to the Dolphins last time.

V’landys and Abdo are considering bringing the next club into the NRL by 2027, another in 2028, and a third by 2032. If the NRL pushes ahead, it would mean four new clubs in a decade.

For his part, V’landys knows a strong business case is needed.

“It must show it brings in substantial revenue,” he says. “It must also show growth will occur in engaged fans, in particular transforming current casual viewers into rusted-on fans. It must also show growth in all forms of participation.”

Until recently, it looked all but certain that the first club would be based in Papua New Guinea with the help of a $600 million 10-year funding package from the federal government. It was pitched as a soft diplomacy exercise designed to counteract the increasing Chinese presence in the Pacific region.

In addition to major loans that support telecommunications infrastructure and port upgrades, Beijing has invested millions of dollars in sports stadiums in the region. In 2020, it even bought two buses for the Fijian Rugby Union.

Rugby league is Papua New Guinea’s national sport and has been considered an easy way to build alliances. “We have been clear we want to see a PNG team in the NRL, but it needs to work for the Australian taxpayers and the Australian government, and it must also work for PNG and the NRL,” a representative for Minister for the Pacific Pat Conroy says. “The discussions have been productive. We are aligned on a way forward.”

Some clubs are less supportive. Their main concern is the business case: although the costs would be subsidised by government funding (at least for a decade), the commercial value from the team is uncertain.

There is also a question of whether there is an appetite for coaching staff and players to move their families to an area that is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world to live in.

“There’s no doubt that Papua New Guinea is nowhere near ready,” Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson says. “Even their captain, Justin Olam, has come out in the press and said ‘we are nowhere near ready’. We have seen no financial figures, no background information.”

Discussions with the government were still taking place last month, but the odds of Papua New Guinea being the first to enter the competition are increasingly unlikely.

A consortium of the West Australian government and the North Sydney Bears will almost certainly be the first club licence winner.

The bid, run by Cash Converters’ deputy chairman Peter Cumins, still needs to raise $30 million to support the plans, but it has the backing of the state’s rugby league-loving premier, Roger Cook.

Perth’s consortium believes there is still a fan base from the 1990s when the Western Reds competed in the Australian Rugby League, and says there will be big economic benefits for the city.

The time difference would also allow for scheduling flexibility and a WA presence could bring sponsorship money from sectors that thrive in the region such as mining, manufacturing and defence. Working with a historic club like the Bears, if that proceeds, would expand the fan base quickly too.

But they aren’t the only ones in the mix. There’s interest from two parties in New Zealand, which has experienced the success of the Auckland Warriors and believes there is more room to grow. One bid is led by ex-Warriors coach Frank Endacott. Another, South Island Kea, is being run by former NRL boss David Moffett and backed by ex-Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos.

The Brisbane Tigers, who missed out last time, also want in.

The Dolphins’ Reader says there are merits to expansion but adds that the NRL needs to be careful with timing. “I don’t think you can do what they did with us and give less than a year’s runway before preseason to build the club and playing squad,” he says. “I assume the NRL has got a plan about how that’s all going to fit together for future expansion.”

In his note to clubs, Abdo said the code was considering factors from ownership to commercial programs, investments in participation and whether a club could bring new fans into the game.

Reader says the Dolphins’ success was driven by the history of the club and the fact that infrastructure and participation programs were already set up.

He thinks having several owners – such as a combined Perth and Bears bid – is not the best path forward because of conflicting interests. “I don’t think it’s a recipe for success,” he says.

Expanding the NRL competition is inevitable – even if it is happening quicker than anticipated. “The more eyeballs you have, the more broadcast dollars you can generate and the more you can reinvest in the game,” V’landys said last year in a documentary about the Dolphins.

1/2

 

[T to the T]

The NRL makes most of its revenue – about 70 per cent – from broadcast agreements with Foxtel (majority-owned by News Corp) and Nine Entertainment, owner of The Australian Financial Review.

Product fees paid by bookmakers, sponsorship, ticket sales and investments in venues such as Gambaro, which the NRL bought for an estimated $25 million, also bring in revenue. NRL executives are also trying new initiatives – like starting the competition in Las Vegas – to drive growth offshore.

The challenge that all sports face is that the media companies that pay them money to broadcast matches are running out of it. A soft advertising market combined with the rate of inflation is making it increasingly difficult for them to justify large sums of money with no added benefit.

New clubs entering the competition gives the NRL more matches (and a reason to ask for more money), but it also gives the sports body options. The NRL could sell the next round of rights by one-broadcaster exclusivity based on a day or location, rather than the number of matches.

It’s the way that broadcast rights are often done in the United States, and typically ends with more money for a sport.

“You are trying to gain value by offering a slightly different thing,” says Jon Marquard, a broadcast rights specialist from Janez Media. “In the next media cycle, it is probably the case that you could slice and dice your rights differently. Maybe they want to run their own service, maybe they want to offer it to one of the tech companies.”

If that’s the plan, it will be easy to do. Last week the federal government decided against allowing platforms such as 7Plus and 9Now to acquire major sports rights before paywalled streaming services.

It has outraged local media groups – and some parliamentarians – who believe big sports matches should be freely accessible. But the move is supported by sports administrators such as V’landys, who say it will allow the games to maximise the value of broadcast deals.

Marquard says the introduction of an 18th team is compelling for the broadcast benefits, but challenges relating to talent and costs will be exacerbated by taking the league to 20. There are many other examples where new teams have failed – most recently the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby club.

“The NRL doesn’t want to make that mistake,” he says. “The cost of adding teams makes a difference. You’ve got to have the revenue to support it and the structures to support it. If you expand too quickly, then it does become too brittle, and you can jeopardise the whole competition.”

V’landys, however, is not worried. “There’s a lot of young players coming through,” he says of the talent concerns. “In fact, it provides greater opportunity. You only have to look at the emerging players in the last couple of seasons.”

What the broadcasters are willing to pay for the addition of new teams is critical and is no doubt part of discussions on the merits of expansion. The introduction of new teams – particularly those offshore or interstate – will add costs to the clubs and the NRL that will need to be offset to justify the investment when it begins negotiations this year.

Richardson, who was involved in the failed bid to bring the Brisbane Tigers into the competition, is concerned about the commercial benefit of certain locations.

“I am 100 per cent supportive of expansion to 20 teams,” he says. “But I want to know what those plans are. We’d like to know what the broadcasters are going to pay for it.”

The NRL is owned by its 17 clubs, which built the competition’s value. During the COVID-19 pandemic and before the introduction of the Dolphins, British financial firm Oakwell Sports Advisory estimated that the NRL was worth $3 billion. Any additions would dilute the power of the clubs and reduce funding distribution if more revenue doesn’t come in.

NRL club sources say they want $7 million in funding per club, up from the $4.7 million they currently receive, and better transparency on the bidding process and how the game is spending its money on creating pathways for grassroots participation (the state leagues are suing the NRL on this matter).

“As shareholders of the [Australian Rugby League Commission], we want to work with it to achieve a great outcome on expansion (if it takes place),” South Sydney Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly says.

“But we have no detail on the process for our input into the business case or mechanics of the potential expansion. The 17 existing club shareholders need confidence in the operational, financial, regulatory, and footballing outcomes of an expanded competition.”

If no one agrees, things could escalate. In the worst case, clubs would threaten to leave the competition when their licences expire in October. It’s unlikely, but it’s also the only leverage they have in the negotiations.

The decision on who ultimately joins their competition is entirely in the hands of V’landys and his commission.

2/2

 

[MugaB]

The NRL makes most of its revenue – about 70 per cent – from broadcast agreements with Foxtel (majority-owned by News Corp) and Nine Entertainment, owner of The Australian Financial Review.

Product fees paid by bookmakers, sponsorship, ticket sales and investments in venues such as Gambaro, which the NRL bought for an estimated $25 million, also bring in revenue. NRL executives are also trying new initiatives – like starting the competition in Las Vegas – to drive growth offshore.

The challenge that all sports face is that the media companies that pay them money to broadcast matches are running out of it. A soft advertising market combined with the rate of inflation is making it increasingly difficult for them to justify large sums of money with no added benefit.

New clubs entering the competition gives the NRL more matches (and a reason to ask for more money), but it also gives the sports body options. The NRL could sell the next round of rights by one-broadcaster exclusivity based on a day or location, rather than the number of matches.

It’s the way that broadcast rights are often done in the United States, and typically ends with more money for a sport.

“You are trying to gain value by offering a slightly different thing,” says Jon Marquard, a broadcast rights specialist from Janez Media. “In the next media cycle, it is probably the case that you could slice and dice your rights differently. Maybe they want to run their own service, maybe they want to offer it to one of the tech companies.”

If that’s the plan, it will be easy to do. Last week the federal government decided against allowing platforms such as 7Plus and 9Now to acquire major sports rights before paywalled streaming services.

It has outraged local media groups – and some parliamentarians – who believe big sports matches should be freely accessible. But the move is supported by sports administrators such as V’landys, who say it will allow the games to maximise the value of broadcast deals.

Marquard says the introduction of an 18th team is compelling for the broadcast benefits, but challenges relating to talent and costs will be exacerbated by taking the league to 20. There are many other examples where new teams have failed – most recently the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby club.

“The NRL doesn’t want to make that mistake,” he says. “The cost of adding teams makes a difference. You’ve got to have the revenue to support it and the structures to support it. If you expand too quickly, then it does become too brittle, and you can jeopardise the whole competition.”

V’landys, however, is not worried. “There’s a lot of young players coming through,” he says of the talent concerns. “In fact, it provides greater opportunity. You only have to look at the emerging players in the last couple of seasons.”

What the broadcasters are willing to pay for the addition of new teams is critical and is no doubt part of discussions on the merits of expansion. The introduction of new teams – particularly those offshore or interstate – will add costs to the clubs and the NRL that will need to be offset to justify the investment when it begins negotiations this year.

Richardson, who was involved in the failed bid to bring the Brisbane Tigers into the competition, is concerned about the commercial benefit of certain locations.

“I am 100 per cent supportive of expansion to 20 teams,” he says. “But I want to know what those plans are. We’d like to know what the broadcasters are going to pay for it.”

The NRL is owned by its 17 clubs, which built the competition’s value. During the COVID-19 pandemic and before the introduction of the Dolphins, British financial firm Oakwell Sports Advisory estimated that the NRL was worth $3 billion. Any additions would dilute the power of the clubs and reduce funding distribution if more revenue doesn’t come in.

NRL club sources say they want $7 million in funding per club, up from the $4.7 million they currently receive, and better transparency on the bidding process and how the game is spending its money on creating pathways for grassroots participation (the state leagues are suing the NRL on this matter).

“As shareholders of the [Australian Rugby League Commission], we want to work with it to achieve a great outcome on expansion (if it takes place),” South Sydney Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly says.

“But we have no detail on the process for our input into the business case or mechanics of the potential expansion. The 17 existing club shareholders need confidence in the operational, financial, regulatory, and footballing outcomes of an expanded competition.”

If no one agrees, things could escalate. In the worst case, clubs would threaten to leave the competition when their licences expire in October. It’s unlikely, but it’s also the only leverage they have in the negotiations.

The decision on who ultimately joins their competition is entirely in the hands of V’landys and his commission.

2/2

Pretty good article, its a nice window into the thoughts and worries of some of the chairman who are all looking after thier own backyard (so to speak)

Expansion is a very risky process, but to use Melbourne rebels as an example, is probably baseline useless... wrong code, wrong pathways, wrong platform, basically anything RU do, would never affect the NRL, as they arent near in any type metric that would be considered useful, that aside the injection of federal money from the png bid, has become a sure thing, and the currently favourite Perth/ Bears bid should be a no brainer, new city, heritage brand, stadium facilities, pathways, its all a great marriage of things each bid lack.

To me it's the last one, the 20th bid that I worry about, we hear its Christchurch, but all they have is the stadium, not much else, no history, no pathways, it's again gaining popularity only coz its away but also in the same country as the warriors, I mean technically a Wellington bid has the same chance or Adelaide or anywhere that has a stadium really.

 

[Centy Coast]

Well done bears, although this probably isn't the thread to be highlighting reserve grade efforts, bears in Perth is a fair enough topic, not NS bears current standings

Considering that the Perth Bears are at the top of the list of the Expansion ladder I disagree.
People say that the Bears have a history of failure because of their failure to win Premierships in the top grade, yet I judge failure by coming last, the dreaded wooden spoon which the Bears last had in 1979 and before that 1951.

 

[Pippen94]

Can the NRL pull off its biggest ever expansion?

The NRL is deciding whether to expand to a 20-team competition. The rewards could be huge, but the clubs aren’t so confident.

www.afr.com

Can the NRL pull off its biggest ever expansion?
The NRL is deciding whether to expand to a 20-team competition. The rewards could be huge, but the clubs aren’t so confident.

Zoe SamiosBusiness reporter
Jul 7, 2024 – 3.15pm

It must have been an odd sight. More than a dozen NRL executives and officials gathering at the Gambaro Seafood Restaurant not far from the Brisbane CBD.

Tucked away from view, in the upstairs private dining room, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo had invited club bosses to a pre-Magic Round meal with a busy agenda of discussion points.

The 17 club chief executives had one thing on their minds, though. For eight months, the potential for a new club for Papua New Guinea had been tabloid fodder. In the weeks leading up to the back-to-back rugby league matches, there was also talk of an NRL revival for the North Sydney Bears.

The clubs wanted to know more. Days before they met, 14 executives took a survey that deemed expansion their top priority, ahead of key issues such as concussions and salary caps.

If it goes ahead, the expansion of the NRL will be the most ambitious and significant change to the rugby league competition since it began in 1998.

Led by Abdo and the Australian Rugby League Commission’s chairman, Peter V’landys, the plan would add three teams to the NRL by 2032, of which two could be based offshore.

They could generate millions of dollars for the sport in broadcast and advertising revenue and would create a national game that has not existed since the Super League and Australian Rugby League competitions united to form the NRL.

But a change this big was always going to cause drama. Those there for dinner at Gambaro – incidentally, owned by the NRL since 2022 – were disappointed to find it was not on the initial agenda. Instead of a lengthy discussion, they were told they would be consulted only in the late stages of decision-making.

Their concerns include where the new teams will be based, how that will affect the distribution of funding to existing clubs, and whether there are enough good coaches and players to run such a large competition.

Last week, the NRL issued requests for proposals to potential entrants to assess the best way forward. Abdo and V’landys want a decision on the new clubs before the end of the season, which would allow the NRL to negotiate a new broadcast deal with additional match fixtures.


“Expansion is not a given,” V’landys tells The Australian Financial Review. “In saying that, now is the time to consider it as it provides the essential component for broadcast negotiations. The decision will be one of the most important in the continued strong health of the game and could set up the game for the next 50 years.”

When the Redcliffe Dolphins became the 17th NRL club in 2021, few believed it would succeed. Even with the hiring of the league’s most respected coach, Wayne Bennett, the team struggled to attract star players and many feared it would take years to reap commercial benefits.

But by the time the team ran onto Suncorp Stadium against the Sydney Roosters last March, more than 31,100 people were in the stands. Thousands wore fin-shaped hats and waved red dolphin flags as the NRL’s newest team beat the Sydney-based powerhouse by 10 points.

The Dolphins finished the season in 13th place and NRL documents obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald in May show the club was among the best in terms of financial performance last year.

It was certainly a better start than the Gold Coast Titans’ arrival in 2007. Some say it worked because the team was founded in rugby league heartland. “It was un-f--k-up-able,” one club executive says.

Other executives say it didn’t add value to the sport’s broadcast deal because it created an odd number of teams, meaning there is a bye each week.

Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader says the club had all the ingredients for success.

“The Dolphins have been around for 75 years and the club existed to play rugby league at the highest level,” he says. “When that was taken away from us in 1988, the club invested in infrastructure, people and facilities so when the chance came, they could deliver top-flight football to the club.”

Sources with direct knowledge of the bidding process say there are 11 parties interested in joining the NRL across four countries. The contenders include Perth – which could go at it alone or sign a deal with the North Sydney Bears – Papua New Guinea, two parties from New Zealand’s South Island, and the Brisbane Tigers, who lost out to the Dolphins last time.

V’landys and Abdo are considering bringing the next club into the NRL by 2027, another in 2028, and a third by 2032. If the NRL pushes ahead, it would mean four new clubs in a decade.

For his part, V’landys knows a strong business case is needed.

“It must show it brings in substantial revenue,” he says. “It must also show growth will occur in engaged fans, in particular transforming current casual viewers into rusted-on fans. It must also show growth in all forms of participation.”

Until recently, it looked all but certain that the first club would be based in Papua New Guinea with the help of a $600 million 10-year funding package from the federal government. It was pitched as a soft diplomacy exercise designed to counteract the increasing Chinese presence in the Pacific region.

In addition to major loans that support telecommunications infrastructure and port upgrades, Beijing has invested millions of dollars in sports stadiums in the region. In 2020, it even bought two buses for the Fijian Rugby Union.

Rugby league is Papua New Guinea’s national sport and has been considered an easy way to build alliances. “We have been clear we want to see a PNG team in the NRL, but it needs to work for the Australian taxpayers and the Australian government, and it must also work for PNG and the NRL,” a representative for Minister for the Pacific Pat Conroy says. “The discussions have been productive. We are aligned on a way forward.”

Some clubs are less supportive. Their main concern is the business case: although the costs would be subsidised by government funding (at least for a decade), the commercial value from the team is uncertain.

There is also a question of whether there is an appetite for coaching staff and players to move their families to an area that is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world to live in.

“There’s no doubt that Papua New Guinea is nowhere near ready,” Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson says. “Even their captain, Justin Olam, has come out in the press and said ‘we are nowhere near ready’. We have seen no financial figures, no background information.”

Discussions with the government were still taking place last month, but the odds of Papua New Guinea being the first to enter the competition are increasingly unlikely.

A consortium of the West Australian government and the North Sydney Bears will almost certainly be the first club licence winner.

The bid, run by Cash Converters’ deputy chairman Peter Cumins, still needs to raise $30 million to support the plans, but it has the backing of the state’s rugby league-loving premier, Roger Cook.

Perth’s consortium believes there is still a fan base from the 1990s when the Western Reds competed in the Australian Rugby League, and says there will be big economic benefits for the city.

The time difference would also allow for scheduling flexibility and a WA presence could bring sponsorship money from sectors that thrive in the region such as mining, manufacturing and defence. Working with a historic club like the Bears, if that proceeds, would expand the fan base quickly too.

But they aren’t the only ones in the mix. There’s interest from two parties in New Zealand, which has experienced the success of the Auckland Warriors and believes there is more room to grow. One bid is led by ex-Warriors coach Frank Endacott. Another, South Island Kea, is being run by former NRL boss David Moffett and backed by ex-Rugby Australia chief executive Andy Marinos.

The Brisbane Tigers, who missed out last time, also want in.

The Dolphins’ Reader says there are merits to expansion but adds that the NRL needs to be careful with timing. “I don’t think you can do what they did with us and give less than a year’s runway before preseason to build the club and playing squad,” he says. “I assume the NRL has got a plan about how that’s all going to fit together for future expansion.”

In his note to clubs, Abdo said the code was considering factors from ownership to commercial programs, investments in participation and whether a club could bring new fans into the game.

Reader says the Dolphins’ success was driven by the history of the club and the fact that infrastructure and participation programs were already set up.

He thinks having several owners – such as a combined Perth and Bears bid – is not the best path forward because of conflicting interests. “I don’t think it’s a recipe for success,” he says.

Expanding the NRL competition is inevitable – even if it is happening quicker than anticipated. “The more eyeballs you have, the more broadcast dollars you can generate and the more you can reinvest in the game,” V’landys said last year in a documentary about the Dolphins.

1/2

I'd love to know the complete list of 11 bidders

 

[AlwaysGreen]

I'd love to know the complete list of 11 bidders

I'd love for you to take a 6 months break from here to find out.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Considering that the Perth Bears are at the top of the list of the Expansion ladder I disagree.
People say that the Bears have a history of failure because of their failure to win Premierships in the top grade, yet I judge failure by coming last, the dreaded wooden spoon which the Bears last had in 1979 and before that 1951.

It's not an expansion ladder. It's a 2nd tier comp ladder. And let's not beat around the bush - if the bears weren't top of the table you wouldn't be posting it.

 

[Wb1234]

Clubs say they are concerned about bidders finances and a lack of players for 20 teams when the really want that extra 2 million pa in funding to allow it

clubs are whores they should just be honest about it

 

[mongoose]

The NRL makes most of its revenue – about 70 per cent – from broadcast agreements with Foxtel (majority-owned by News Corp) and Nine Entertainment, owner of The Australian Financial Review.

Product fees paid by bookmakers, sponsorship, ticket sales and investments in venues such as Gambaro, which the NRL bought for an estimated $25 million, also bring in revenue. NRL executives are also trying new initiatives – like starting the competition in Las Vegas – to drive growth offshore.

The challenge that all sports face is that the media companies that pay them money to broadcast matches are running out of it. A soft advertising market combined with the rate of inflation is making it increasingly difficult for them to justify large sums of money with no added benefit.

New clubs entering the competition gives the NRL more matches (and a reason to ask for more money), but it also gives the sports body options. The NRL could sell the next round of rights by one-broadcaster exclusivity based on a day or location, rather than the number of matches.

It’s the way that broadcast rights are often done in the United States, and typically ends with more money for a sport.

“You are trying to gain value by offering a slightly different thing,” says Jon Marquard, a broadcast rights specialist from Janez Media. “In the next media cycle, it is probably the case that you could slice and dice your rights differently. Maybe they want to run their own service, maybe they want to offer it to one of the tech companies.”

If that’s the plan, it will be easy to do. Last week the federal government decided against allowing platforms such as 7Plus and 9Now to acquire major sports rights before paywalled streaming services.

It has outraged local media groups – and some parliamentarians – who believe big sports matches should be freely accessible. But the move is supported by sports administrators such as V’landys, who say it will allow the games to maximise the value of broadcast deals.

Marquard says the introduction of an 18th team is compelling for the broadcast benefits, but challenges relating to talent and costs will be exacerbated by taking the league to 20. There are many other examples where new teams have failed – most recently the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby club.

“The NRL doesn’t want to make that mistake,” he says. “The cost of adding teams makes a difference. You’ve got to have the revenue to support it and the structures to support it. If you expand too quickly, then it does become too brittle, and you can jeopardise the whole competition.”

V’landys, however, is not worried. “There’s a lot of young players coming through,” he says of the talent concerns. “In fact, it provides greater opportunity. You only have to look at the emerging players in the last couple of seasons.”

What the broadcasters are willing to pay for the addition of new teams is critical and is no doubt part of discussions on the merits of expansion. The introduction of new teams – particularly those offshore or interstate – will add costs to the clubs and the NRL that will need to be offset to justify the investment when it begins negotiations this year.

Richardson, who was involved in the failed bid to bring the Brisbane Tigers into the competition, is concerned about the commercial benefit of certain locations.

“I am 100 per cent supportive of expansion to 20 teams,” he says. “But I want to know what those plans are. We’d like to know what the broadcasters are going to pay for it.”

The NRL is owned by its 17 clubs, which built the competition’s value. During the COVID-19 pandemic and before the introduction of the Dolphins, British financial firm Oakwell Sports Advisory estimated that the NRL was worth $3 billion. Any additions would dilute the power of the clubs and reduce funding distribution if more revenue doesn’t come in.

NRL club sources say they want $7 million in funding per club, up from the $4.7 million they currently receive, and better transparency on the bidding process and how the game is spending its money on creating pathways for grassroots participation (the state leagues are suing the NRL on this matter).

“As shareholders of the [Australian Rugby League Commission], we want to work with it to achieve a great outcome on expansion (if it takes place),” South Sydney Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly says.

“But we have no detail on the process for our input into the business case or mechanics of the potential expansion. The 17 existing club shareholders need confidence in the operational, financial, regulatory, and footballing outcomes of an expanded competition.”

If no one agrees, things could escalate. In the worst case, clubs would threaten to leave the competition when their licences expire in October. It’s unlikely, but it’s also the only leverage they have in the negotiations.

The decision on who ultimately joins their competition is entirely in the hands of V’landys and his commission.

2/2

big article... part of me doesn't care what the existing clubs think about expansion, they're all driven by self interest rather than what's best for the NRL. Part of me doesn't 100% trust Peter V'landys either.

this part is interesting, would like to know more about it...

The NRL could sell the next round of rights by one-broadcaster exclusivity based on a day or location, rather than the number of matches

 

[Wb1234]

big article... part of me doesn't care what the existing clubs think about expansion, they're all driven by self interest rather than what's best for the NRL. Part of me doesn't 100% trust Peter V'landys either.

this part is interesting, would like to know more about it...

One network gets all the sat games another Sunday etc

location specific would be one gets all Sydney games (never going to happen)

nrl has been talking about splitting rights for ages and never does is

clubs get a vote on expansion they decide if it happens or not